Derek Fisher Hopes to Avoid NFL-Like Contracts for NBA Players

Derek Fisher, as president of the players union, doesn’t like the way the NFL treats its players contract-wise, and will do everything he can to avoid a similar fate for NBA players. From SI: “Derek Fisher believes revenue sharing can resolve many of the owners’ problems, but he’s skeptical about how they would institute a hard cap as well. If the NFL is able to move toward a labor settlement, it could create more pressure on the NBA to construct a deal. But players’ union president Derek Fisher has a different view of the NFL. He wants no part of football’s structure. ‘It breaks my heart to see the way guys like LaDainian Tomlinson get dealt with in the NFL,’ Fisher said of the former MVP who gained 914 yards for the Jets last season after he had been waived by the Chargers. ‘To see what he’d done for the San Diego Chargers and to get to that place where he was under a contract that’s already been signed. The Chargers were able to absorb value in income and potential profits from years of his services, and then at the drop of a hat, based on arbitrary thinking because he’s a certain age and he can’t produce at a certain level anymore, he’s gone. Out the door.’ While NBA owners may be seeking to create their own version of the NFL system — based on revenue sharing, a hard cap and the right to cut off salary to underachieving players — Fisher is skeptical. He believes revenue sharing can resolve many of the owners’ problems, but he is extremely skeptical about how they would institute a hard cap as well as contracts that are partially or entirely nonguaranteed.”